Wetherspoons boss promises breakfasts will only rise by 20p despite soaring costs

The hospitality tycoon made the promise to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast amid fears the cost of the popular dish would increase dramatically to counter Rachel Reeves' tax assault on business in the Autumn Budget.

But Sir Tim, who operates nearly 800 pubs across the UK, stressed their would only be a marginal increase to the Wetherspoons breakfast price, which is currently available for as little as £3.79 in some of his establishments.

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"It won't got more than £3.99 [in those pubs]," Sir Tim said.

However, the pub boss feared pint prices across the sector would balloon in the next year due to the UK's heavy taxation rules.

Last week, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £30 billion worth of tax hikes in her fiscal statement - including an increase in business rates and rateable values.

Hospitality businesses will also see an end to the relief payments given out since the Covid pandemic lockdowns, along with alcohol duty rising by RPI inflation next February and staff costs growing due to an increase in the National Living Wage.

After Reeves announced these fiscal changes last Wednesday, pub chain Mitchells & Butlers said it would see a £130m rise in costs next year.

Asked about the impact of Reeves' fiscal package, Sir Tim said: "It was not a great budget. I don't think prices will be going down, put it that way.

"It's not been just this Government. In the last 20 or 30 years, pubs have laboured under much higher taxes than supermarkets. Pubs pay much higher taxes than supermarkets and pay higher business rates per pint.

"Pubs are very expensive in comparison to supermarkets, largely because of the tax system. If people want pubs, that's going to have to change."

Last month, Wetherspoons announced a 3.7 per cent increase in like-for-like sales over the first 14 weeks of its financial year, ending November 2.

It also revealed a significant surge in staff costs, estimated at an additional £60 million annually, due to the recent government policies.